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Embattled Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Makes First Public Appearance Since Crushing WSJ Report
One day Palo Alto-based medical-laboratory-services company Theranos was worth $9 billion (with its 31 year old CEo Elizabeth Holmes owning about half of this), a day later - following a crushing review of the company's business practices - not only is the company (and Holmes) worth far less, but the venture investors who gave the company hundreds of millions in cash have quickly become the "due diligence-free" laughing stocks of Silicone Valley.
Moments ago, in her first public appearance since the WSJ article, Elizabeth Holmes started speaking at the WSJDLive 2015 conference. Will she be successful in defending her company or will doubts about one of the biggest unidonkeys grow even more: watch live video of the interview
below, and follow along on WSJ's live blog.
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silicone?.....i see what you did there
Bill Maris and Emily Chang on Bloomberg West just eviscerated Theranos and the CEO - but vicariously did the most damage to the "private equity venture capital" market and it's ridiculous euphoric valuations (Theranos. Recently valued at $8B) with no peer reviewed scientific paper(s) to validate their singular blood test product/service. What about all these other GRAT eligible (a GRAT is a grantor retained annuity trust) VC deals that have been traded between accredited but obviously unsophisticated investors... Q. How come the SEC allows these private securities be traded between unsophisticated investors?? Oh, because they have the $ to lose??? Well I don't think they are doing their jobs because the evidence is in from of their noses!
Although she does have those 'crazy eyes'.
Reminds me of the overly attached girlfriend. https://i.imgflip.com/gh1zx.jpg
She looks like a cross between Hillary and Chelsea.
There goes my lunch...
I'm guessing that you don't want me to tell you that her voice is about as deep as Bill's voice then.
Isn't really answering questions either. Kind of annoying.
Boner Assassin
I noticed that, the clones are out there......
Personifications of the ugliness of white privilege, basically. Though that will most likely be lost on the right-wing types here.
Do you seriously believe that "white privilege" bullshit?
It's a privilege to have to score 20% higher on the sat to even be considered for the same college. And, if all other things are equal, it's privilege to lose a job to blacks. The good thing is not so many obama types are really looking for work so the playing field being uneven doesn't matter much. Dude up top is an idiot.
Everybody knows - white girls can't jump.
So, she don't have that basketball star carreer option after she gets dribbled off court as the Theranos whipping boy.
Silicone, huh ? " If you like your fake tits, you can keep your fake tits. "
Hopefully they are real, or they might get repo-ed when she getsd fired.
It's a privilege to have to score 20% higher on the sat to even be considered for the same college. And, if all other things are equal, it's privilege to lose a job to blacks. The good thing is not so many obama types are really looking for work so the playing field being uneven doesn't matter much. Dude up top is an idiot.
Based on his avatar he is a very dark fat man eating a white baby.
EML is the personification of PC foolishness -- that's his job here. But Theranos does illustrate an enduring truth -- if you are going to run a major con, it helps to be a dough-faced, bleach-blond 20-something white chick.
Move into a mud hut, then...you self-loathing Nordic ladyboy.
Endocrine disrupters really took their toll on you. Shriveled up like raisins, didn't they?
I recommend you move to Detroit, real estate is cheap and it's miles to the nearest white privilege......
Windsor's just a cold swim away, and it's positively pale compared to Detroit.
Indeed, it is a GREAT privilege not to be born a chink, a spic, or a nigger.
The concept of white privilege is thoroughly. It was developed as an to attempt to explain away the relative failure of very unsuccessful cultures. Worship multiculturalism all you want. Worship diversity all you want. Just don't claim that "white privilege" is the reason nothing of substance was ever developed out of Africa - a continent with more natural resource wealth than anywhere else. Don't claim "white privilege" is the reason the retarded muslims in the middle east have perfected nothing more complex than killing each other. The cultures based upon western christian civilization were simply far more successful than all others in securing a more peaceful and prosperous way of life. Far from perfect, true, but it is western civilization that lifted the world out of poverty. Those who did so have a right to enjoy their prosperity and to pass it on to their heirs. If you want to talk about privilege focus on those from th failed cultures who enjoy the benefits created by the superiour culture.
I think this "particular individual" is a shoe in for a criminal justice degree, and a lady officer uniform.
Well hell! I see the problem here, poor management/ownership!! If this chick will sell her company off to a
member of the "preferred" business ethnic group (at a substancial discount of course) then skys the limit for the
company's performance; until then she can expect to be derided as an oaf by an "unbiased" financial media.
Only certain donkeys can be "chosen" to be unicorns.
"following a crushing review of the company's business practices"
Probably worth reading. Since I think Murdoch is an enemy propagandist, I won't register or subscribe.
get around the pay wall, grab the headline, go to google, search for that headline, click the google link to WSJ, paywall defeated.
Thanks! But this is mostly about me not being able to pass up an opportunity to trash Murdoch. I know, I need help.
Fail. Does not work. Idiot.
You can do the google trick (doesn't always work), or you can just use archive.is
https://archive.is/4rQH3
Fahque,
i find it odd that your user name (a phonetic approximation targeting israel's great satan) and your post (an accurate portrayal of traditional semetic business tactics) seem to be at odds.
leaving the apparent paradox aside for a moment, janus -- never one to pass on an opportunity to call-out the tribe for their gypsy-like skullduggery -- thinks this may just be a case of good/sound reporting on behalf of the WSJ.
miss holmes was/is most certainly 'chosen'. look, if her daddy was high-level USAID, that should tell you everything you need to know. USAID=CIA. this chic is emblematic of all that's wrong with modern amoican enterprise...it is a case of narrative subverting substance.
the scion of the pampered class of socialites and dilettantes awash in cash simply because she is a 'she', and just so happens to be the progeny of wastrels with an eastern-establishment waspy pedigree (who, strangely enough, have a 'fleishman' in their woodpile).
in a way, i do feel badly for her. knowing nothing of laboratory diagnostics, she seeks to leverage her pet-peeve (needles) into a multi-billion $$$ IPO, just in time to welcome hillary to a fete in palo alto, and officially inaugurate the 'millennium of women'. oh my stars! what a triumph it would'a been. there, at center stage, hillary, sheryl sanberg, melissa meyers and miss holmes 'leaning in' to THE FUTURE. but alas, ladies, this world is not meet for such. biology is quite the bitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwuO2dfqrF4
janus spent about 5 years in the laboratory diagnostic world, and if any of you imbeciles think there is a correlation betwixt the volume of blood drawn and the CPT (cost per test)...well, you may just be an 'angel funder' for miss holmes. the primary revenue source isn't even the machines themselves, it is instead from the test kit assays -- which are proprietary to the machines -- the labs tack on their exorbitant fees, and the care providers do the same. there never was any hard science backing this pipe dream, only the specious promise of potential...hell, the developer of said technology offed himself in shame some two years ago.
along those lines, what if i were to tell you bitchez that i have an idea for a car that gets 200 miles per gallon (of salt water!), puts out 600 HP, and automatically avoids running over cute and fuzzy woodland creatures? i've got me one of dem scientist-types to back it all up. now, where's my angel funds?
anywho, i'll share with miss holmes some advice from good ole Bill Shakespeare, "woman, get thee to a nunnery." better still, fetch me a sandwich and a beer...and make it snappy! the game's about to start and the cheerleaders are jiggling in all the right places.
but i don't want miss holmes to go away empty handed nor abandon her IPO dreams. i have an idea better suited to her milieu, and one that will attract the attention of tribesmen everywhere:
being jewish is all the rage. this fact is on display everywhere one goes. all the hip kids are wearing yarmakules to school and in the clubs. every street corner is rife with dredel spinning youngsters who simply cannot get enough. you cannot find a menu without getlefish. menorahs have replaced chandeliers in all the stylish homes. i could go on endlessly.
and this got me to thinking. in a world of niche fooderies, where cupcake shops and pretzel specialists are the order of the day, why not ride this hebrew wave of cool straight into shore. and so, miss holmes, janus will give you the an idea that will permit the fame, fortune and wild success you've always coveted (and will get you in the kitchen where you belong).
janus has been fortunate enough to sample some of the world's finest cuisine, and one item stands head & shoulders above the rest -- matzo balls. go ahead, miss holmes, put some balls in your mouth and tell me you're not in the ninth heaven. but it's not just some dimensionless matzo-ball kiosk...much like a fortune cookie, inside each matzo ball will be a wadded piece of parchment with some cheery olde testament prophesy. can you imagine the joy of chewing on a stewed clump of dough and finding in it a note that says something like this, "and when you enter the land, ye shall kill all that liveth. every man, every woman, every child, every beast in the field." or "and they shall grasp your young children by the feet and bash their heads against the rocks."
i don't know about you, but i'm hungry already.
bon apetite,
janus
....cool
You had me at " running over cute and fuzzy woodland creatures".
if you're gonna get fucked it might as well look like that
voice is about 3 octaves lower than I'd have guessed
We, the hormone replacement treatments and Trans-Transformation are not completed yet, I imagine.
I hope the story is bunk. I REALLY want to like this company concept and woman.
The industry does not want to have cheaper alternative to labs. Many of these tests cost a few pennies and they rip us off for hundreds of dollars. So there is incentive for them to make her look bad.
But people have disappointed me in the past. We will see.
I agree. Two of the wealthiest neighbors I have are owners of these labs who make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on very inexpensive tests that they charge alot for.
You live near the courthouse? Or the jail / probation offices? Seems like all the "wealthy neighbors" located there are "testers", wagon chasers or bail bondsman.
That could be it in a nutshell. So much money is invested in expensive (for you) lab tests.
If it all could be done with a simple pinprick (monumental task) then it would crush the business model for a lot of different folks, from labs, to doctors, and even insurance companies.
pods
I'm working on prototyping 'Dr. Kiosk' which I will put in all malls that let everyone get quick do it yourself pin prick lab tests and googlenosis of what your issue is and spit out random pills from whatever big pharma kickbacks I can get my hands on
I'll set it so 1 out of 6 will get told they have cancer
Who needs a blood test? I had some problems here before I left for China two years ago so went to two different"specialists." The total office charges were over $500 and the "lab work" another $625. They each recommended some different prescrition drugs that I took religiously (at a cost of over $120!) but after 3 months no cure or even relief.
So I went to the medical school doctor there in Beijing and he did a thorough physical exam including looking carefully at my tongue and then he himself looked at my urine and blood sample with a microscope in his office. He put me on an herb medicine and in 72 hours I was 100% symptom free! His total cost was $28.00!!!! The herb cost $8.50. I took the herb for one month and never had the problem again.
Yes, it's anecdotal but that says something, right?!
What this country needs are more lampposts...
Problem here is...If you come up with a cheap, effecient alternative in the Field of Medicine, your reputation, and possibly your life, is in danger.
I have no idea if this concept works. Considering all involved, I suspect it might just kick ass, which is totally unacceptable.
Two things that struck me when I first heard about Theranos.
One was the absolute secrecy over what it is they are doing i.e. no patents issued for a majority of their blood assay procedures
Another was the almost ridiculous assertion that Holmes had created something so revolutionary that no one else figured out.
Microfluidics has been used in many different applications. In fact, one of the professor's in the same dept came up with a way to test Aids in a credit card sized 'micro-lab'. The ways these microfluidic devices often work is that they attach a organo-ferric molecule to the hemoglobin and 'pull' the blood through a series of fluids using a magnet, since microfluidic pumps are insanely costly to build and dont work that well.
Theranos just sounds like they made a similiar technique and applied to a blood assay. However, what I found a little less believable was the accuracy of the numbers they were getting. See, in the professors AID test, he was merely looking for the PRESENCE of the HIV. Theranos was CALCULATING verious levels in a blood assay. In such a small sample size, it is incredibly hard to accurately predict the levels of anything in the blood, especially since merely drinking or eating could change the constituent concentrations.
This was what puzzled me and I warned one of my investment buddies that Theranos appeared to good to be true. That if they had successfully applied a thourough and detalied lab analysis in a microfluidic laboratory, that this would have already been patented and applied to a myriad of other tests. In fact, if what Theranos claims is true, how come they havent come out with tests for every major virus, for analyzing drugs in urine, hair, etc. Why havent they expanded into microfluidic analysis and instead tried to make a portable device of limited use?
My belief is that they realized early on that with the current level of technology, the accuracy of sampling microvolumes is bad, and thus limited to a few tests that do not rely on extremely low concentrations. You could also say this another way, which is, when the volume of fluid gets smaller, the constituent concentrations also get smaller. And if your trying to test for a chemical that is at the ppm or ppb level, you are essentially hunting for maybe just a few molecules which is incredibly hard to do.
would bang
lolz
yes, definitely tappable.
do you suppose she takes it in the face too?
Here we go again with who'd fuck who and tap that, etc. This shit never gets old.
When you are in 9th grade
just like smashing glass.... timeless
I think my favorite is when two kids get ahold of those 40w fluorescent tubes right after seeing Star Wars.
pods
Baby fat and some Bucky Beaver front choppers.
I'd step over it on my way to rub one out.
From the sound of her voice, she is really a he.
Is that Steve Jobs? Did he have an open casket?
Firm hanshake? A little too firm?
Man hands?
Heavy cannabis smoker
look at the fucking Dow......
who the fuck do they think theyre convincing????
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/DJIA
Looks like...everyone.
at the risk of giving some at goldman a bad idea (though they've likely already thought of if not done it) is it insider trading if a c-level (or investment bank, etc) buys dips on rumors they know to be false? seems like a pretty strong plausibly deniable defense to say: "hey, I was just trading on the same publicly available/audited financials as everyone else". heck, you could even do a denial to make it complete ("hey, I told people it was false - how is it my fault if they chose not to believe me?"). sort of a reverse pump & dump. not saying that's the case here, just wondering if this is already common practice?
Sounds like Clamity Jane in HBO's Deadwood. Cocksuckers!!
Another trust fund baby. I guess she's not in the tribes club. oopsie.
Holmes was born in February 1984 in Washington, D.C. Her father, Christian Holmes IV, worked in the United States, Africa, and China as part of government agencies such as USAID.[1] Her mother, Noel Anne,[11] worked as a Congressional committee staffer. She has a brother, Christian Holmes V, who is the director of product management at Theranos. One of her ancestors was a founder of the Fleischmann's Yeast company.[6] She is related to actress Katherine MacDonald who was married to Christian Rasmus Holmes II (1898-1944).
So ... a product of two parasites?
She may well have a natural blonde muff; just a thought.
Not sorry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIXAmjUFSso
Natural brunette.
Silicon Valley is in NorCal. "Silicone Valley" is in LA somewhere.
If this company can actually do what they say, do you know how many people's livelihoods are affected?
A whole slew of tests was just made obsolete. (Miffed can fill you in on that)
I listened to a bit, and she seemed pretty credible. The guy interviewing didn't seem like he ever took a science course.
OMG dilution? Fucking investing retard thinks dilution has a negative connotation.
Dilution is a step by which your analyte is brought within the linear range of the technique.
Who knows, maybe they are full of shit. But the fact that all these joobucks have sloshed in to corrupt it is appalling on its own.
Stop the damn printing Janet and raise rates, you insuffurable cunt. Then we can see who's dog will hunt.
Until then, we are all in lala land with rent seekers chasing yield to pay off the conjured joobucks handed out from the FED.
pods
>trashes tribe
>begs tribe to do what he says
>>mfw
re: "OMG dilution? Fucking investing retard thinks dilution has a negative connotation."
Whether correct or not, the WSJ reported:
“Anytime you dilute a sample, you’re adulterating the sample and changing it in some fashion, and that introduces more potential for error,” says Timothy R. Hamill, vice chairman of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of laboratory medicine told the Journal."
Over the years I have seen bias in the WSJ, but it stands to reason that if you can dilute something to bring it into range, you can dilute it and take it out of range if you are trying to reach a required volume for testing on an instrument.
(I did not have access to the full WSG article so I guessed, but this makes sense)
My initial thoughts were that this "special diluting method" was used because the new device measured the samples neat, whereas all these other analyzers either needed a sample to be diluted into the linear range, or needed some sort of amplification (say PCR) to increase the amount of minute species so as to be analyzed.
So the traditional analyzer takes say, 100 µL of blood, or the blood sample is spun down and maybe plasma is used, depends on the method. A lot of times traditional analyzer methods will use some type of additive to react with the species of concern and there is a colorimetric change, or a wavelength shift, idk, not a biochemist.
Well, any dilution will change the concentrations of the analytes. If the new technique measures these directly from a neat blood sample (sounds like it from a pin prick), then they simply cannot be looked at the same in terms of sample treatment as a tradional method that manipulates a larger volume, specific portion of blood, or uses some type of proxy marker/reactant for measuring.
If Theranos can replicate other analyzers (or even worse, prove them to be inaccurate but precise) then that is a whole nother story.
But a vastly different technique requires different methodology.
pods
Does she ever blink? It wouldn't stop me from gving her one but I'd have do it from behind.
Well, well, well, https://youtu.be/jCHHJdmqAH4?t=53s
That stupid,blonde bimbit didn't have an F'n clue as to what it means to hedge your downside risk.The market likes them nice and dumb.You can see the boys in NY right now and what they're saying, "Boy did we throw a F**k into that stupid bitch."
Based on her significant proptosis, she should porbably obtain a Theranos TSH, T3 and T4 levels..............
She started the company because she didn't like needles. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked to start a company like Theranos but weren't well connected like this girl. Another paper Wall Street billionaire.
The problem with their testing methods is that they are looking for serious diseases with a very small sample of blood taken from a fingertip. It turned out that the tests were wildly inaccurate. Potassium levels were off the charts in some samples, which points to contamination. It is very easy to contaminate a single drop of blood.
Now I do think they take way too much blood for labs, but a fingerprick just won't do.
Theranos was valued north of $5 billion because of the potential to sell their proprietary testing machines. Using the Keurig model for disease testing.
The problem is that a test machine like Theranos isn't needed. Just medical reform. tests that used to cost $10 now cost over $200 because hospitals want them to. I got a $250 bill for a strep test I didn't ask to be sent on to a lab. Why is a fucking strep test $250?
Because they can't get away with $350...yet
When "ordinary and customary" become today.
(Janet! We have asked you to get the inflation going again! Are you listening!)
Listen to the interview. She's dancing around the questions with all that CLIA vs. FDA quality systems bullshit and the "we have many more products we aren't useing yet" bullshit. Either you can do a test or not and with demonstrable accuracy. Sensitivity and specificity. The supposed benefit is faster test with less blood but it won't be cheaper because then you don't get the value of the new technology. Waiting for them to start publishing more.
15 years ago, I had a car accident and was taken to UC Irvine Medical center. After $30k in needless tests, I asked them to check my blood sugar since I'm diabetic (but wasn't on insulin). They took the test, and gave me one dose - one single dose. I'm on insulin full time now (not because of them, though), and it costs me $80 Cdn for a package of 5 x 100 units. A 30 unit shot costs me less than $5.
their price for one dose (~20-30 units?) $100.
Hospital prices have ZERO relationship to their cost.
Ultimately whether this company can do what they say or not is irrelevant.
The current tests are inexpensive to operate. The cost you pay is a result of the cartelization of the medical industry.
Let me say it again.
The HIGH COST OF HEALTH CARE AND EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT IS 100% DUE TO THE CARTELIZATION OF THE INDUSTRY BEGINNING WITH THE FLEXNER REPORT IN 1910.
While the industry remains cartelized, she will be either forced out of business, or forced to obey cartel rules and price her machines and/or the tests they administer accordingly.
BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT A CARTEL IS FOR.
Well said Sir! You managed to use caplock and not embarrass yourself.
Compelled me to +1
You guys are rigbt on ths money.
An elderly relative of mine died recently because the hospial did an unnecessary procedurd and test. What should have been a routine hospital stay for gall stones turned fatal. The procedure fucked up her pancreas. Us relatves who visited hed and talked with the attending physician told him it sounded like pancreatitis. Typical doctor with a god complex, the guy blew us off.
Like the poor basdard in Buffalio who was declared dead but was still alive 1.5 hours later, we're af the mercy of people who make money off of scumbag insurance co's and Medicare. It truly is sick care.
Just be glad that the system still has a strong incentive to keep you alive. Bankrupt, maybe, but alive.
In the very near future, though, the incentives will all be to see Granny dead.
Solent Green is GRANNIES!
Hopefully they get her cookie recipe before she goes into the chopper.
Pharma drugs kill many people and there are so many cover ups, yet no smear campaign....hmmm, makes you wonder. Industry has a lot to lose, her technology is disruptive. And the BIG EGO's don't want a woman to succeed.
I follow ZH to discover words like unidonkey.
No shit. Me too.
Meant something different on spring break in Tijuana.
I like the new definition much better.